Greens fear Horizontal Falls mining threat

The Western Australian Greens want the State Government to cancel dozens of mining exploration tenements on the site of the proposed Horizontal Falls Marine Park.

The Government has revealed plans for the 3,000 square kilometre national park on the Kimberley coast, which it says will provide the highest level of protection for tourist attractions like the Horizontal Falls.

The Greens' Member for Mining and Pastoral, Robin Chapple, says areas of the park are subject to dozens of permits to explore for minerals such as copper and iron ore.

He says the Government should cancel the tenements if it is serious about protecting the region.

"If you're going to have a national park, great, very, very supportive, Horizontal Waterfalls needs to be protected but the 'green' areas which you've established should not have mining activity in them," he said.

"When it comes to the land-based side of the park, at least 50 per cent if not more of that park area is now covered by mining tenements, so what we're saying is if you're fair dinkum about having a national park you need to make sure no mining occurs in that area."

The Government says the exploration licences will remain but mining and oil and gas exploration within the national park will be prohibited.

It says any proposal to develop a mine in the region will need approval from the ministers for Mines and Environment and both houses of Parliament.

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.